# 176 The Journal of the Anglican Winter 2016

Dawson’s churches get ready for the Christmas Eve Pageant Slide Show page 2 Northern Lights Winter 2016

Day 10 and 25 Mayo: St. Mary with St. Mark. Licensed Lay Day 1 & 16 Ministers Charles & Valerie Maier; Pelly Whitehorse: Christ Church Cathedral. Crossing: St. James the Lord’s Brother The Very Rev. Sean Murphy; Licensed Lay Ministers: Beverley Whitehouse, Gaya Tiede- Day 11 & 26 man, David Robertson, and Elsa Cheeseman. Dawson City: St. Paul’s. Moosehide: St. Barnabas; The Klondike Creeks; The Demp- Day 2 & 17 ster Hwy. The Rev. Laurie Munro, The Rev. Fort Nelson: St. Mary Magdalene. Toad Percy Henry. Licensed Lay Ministers: Mabel River, Alaska Highway, Mile 150-506 Henry; Shirley Pennell and Betty Davidson. The Revd. Lesley Wheeler-Dame & Eric Dame;The Rev. Glen Gough & Sarah Gough; Day 12 & 27 Licensed Lay Ministers: Jeanie Arva, Mark Old Crow: St. Luke’s. Tudor and Kathleen Olson. The Rev. Bert Chestnut, The Rev. Marion Schafer, Esau Schafer & Lay Ministry Team Day 3 & 18 Watson Lake: St. John the Baptist; Lower Day 13 & 28 Post, Swift River, Telegraph Creek: St. The Ven. Sarah Usher: Executive ; Aidan; Dease Lake; Glenora. Licensed Lay Members of the Diocesan Executive Com- Minister: Tim Liverton mittee; Diocesan Prayer Partner: Diocese of Fredericton. Day 4 & 19 Carcross, Tagish & Johnson’s Crossing Day 14 & 29 St. Saviour’s. Patti Tetlichi, Yukon Apostolate. ’s Teslin: St. Philips, Ven. Sarah Usher, Len School of Yukon Ministries. Usher and the Ministry Team PWRDF Diocesan Representative: Betty Davidson Day 5 & 20: Communities of: Carmacks & Diocesan ACW President, Blanche Buckle, Keno. and all ACW members. Day 6 & 21: Atlin: St. Martin. The Rev. Vera Day 15 & 30 Kirkwood; The Rev. Dorothy Odian. Licensed Those retired from Missionary Service: Lay Minister: George Holman. The Rev. Canon David Pritchard The Rev. Dorothy Thorpe. Day 7 & 22: Communities of Faro and Ross The Rev. Don & Rev. Lee Sax. River The Rv. Canon Geoffrey & Rosalind Dixon. The Rev. Canon David Kalles. Day 8 & 23 The Ven. John & Rev. Carol Tyrrell. Haines Junction: St. Christopher’s. Beaver The Rev. Fred & Marcia Carson. Creek: St. Columba: Alaska Highway: Mile The Very Rev. Peter & Barbara Williams. 918-1202: The Rev. Lynn de Brabandere and The Rev. Mary & Lino Battaja. the Ministry Team The Most Rev. Terry and Blanche Buckle. The Rev. Martin & Ruth Carroll. Day 9 & 24 Marion Carroll, Aldene Snider, Audrey Aylard. Whitehorse: Church of the Northern Apostles. The Rt. Rev. Larry Robertson, Ven. Sarah Day 31 and daily: Usher, Len Usher. Licensed Lay Ministers The Rt. Rev. Larry Robertson and Eileen Carver and Sheila Robertson Sheila Robertson & family.

Northern Lights Winter 2016 page 3 A Message from the Bishop find peace in a world where chaos is everywhere around us. We go forward by faith! Not by sight! Not by proof! By faith!

Moving within the Diocese of Yukon is no different. We move forward by faith. Our local training program moves forward. With their permission, we have adapted the Training package for Lay Leaders from the Diocese of Salisbury “We saw his star when it rose and in England for use as the first level in have come to worship him.” Mat. 2:2b our Lay Ministry training.

Did you ever wonder what made these The Ministry of Presence saw the Magi from the East follow the star? Rev Bert Chestnut move to Old Crow, Who were they anyway? No one really Yukon and the process of building a new knows. For that matter, what is this star Church continues. Charles and Valerie that is mentioned? Lots of questions, Maier continue in Mayo building with no solid answers. Lots of people relationships. speculate. They talk like they know the answers. Nevertheless they are learned The song says we walk by faith and guesses at best. What we do know is that not by sight. At our Executive we have these Magi believed that the star pointed decided as part of our mission outreach to a King being born and that even they and training to look at having a Gospel had insufficient information. They went Jamboree in the Summer of 2017. The to Herod when they got close enough. date is to be set soon. This will be three or four days of workshops with each What we see in this story is an act night ending in a Gospel Jamboree of faith. The Magi had signs of a session. It will be a time of fellowship, king being born, but no certainties. learning and healing. Stay tuned for Nevertheless there was something more information. within that called them to follow. They may not have been able to say what As we approach the celebration of the is was, but that urging inside said Birth of Christ, may we come in trust “follow”. and faith believing that God will bless us and draw us together. Take time to be Isn’t that what we experience today with your family, take time to be with as we come to celebrate the birth of our Lord and may you know His love Jesus. We come in an act of faith. In and the power of the Holy Spirit in your the world today people are questioning life. every aspect of the nativity story. We have no proof. We come in faith. There is something inside that urges us. This is real, this is truth. We believe by faith, Blessings, in much the same way as the Magi. We come believing, and in coming, God Bishop Larry honors our faith. In coming we may page 4 Northern Lights Winter 2016 The Diocese from Top to Bottom Our most northerly parish, St Luke’s, the parish for at least two more to start Old Crow, has a new Minister. The Rev. the 10 week training course for Lay Bert Chestnut, a priest from the Halifax Ministers in January. area, has come on via the Ministry of Presence Program. Rev. Chestnut will St Christopher’s, Haines Junction, has be busy working with the , Rev. just had another successful summer of Marion Schafer while they seek to build having an Art Gallery in their basement. a new Church building as the current one Construction is completed on making is literally splitting in two and is unsafe the building handicap accessible and and unfixable. Rev. Chestnut say he is on having the Kitchen upgraded to have the a high learning curve. Food Service Program continue in the Parish. The Rev. Lynn De Brabandere Rev. Laurie Munro in St. Paul’s, is on a leave of absence until summer Dawson City, reaches out to the of 2017. The parish is rallying together community with a Dinner and Games to continue the ministries that touch Nights, and a youth choir is getting so many of the people in need in the some children who didn’t go to church. community. Rev. Percy Henry is now retired and has slowed down letting others to take up the St. Martin’s, Atlin, continues to ministry. move forward with its ministry to the community. The leadership team of Rev. Charles and Valerie Maier of St. Mary Vera Kirkwood, Rev. Dorthy Odian with St. Mark, Mayo, are staying for and Lay Minister George Holman, another year. Their friendly voices holds the respect and gratitude of the are often heard at public meetings community. On Church Property a and in homes, sharing a cup of tea morgue has been built. The Rectory with the elders. They are relentless at has become a respite home and Special strengthening relationships and being the treatment center. The thrift store presence of Christ in the community. provides needed affordable clothes for miles around. St Matin’s truly is a After a busy summer Christ Church community church. Cathedral continues the busyness, with monthly Messy Church reaching many Watson Lake is finished putting a who would not normally go to church, much needed furnace in and will soon and the parish offers a six week Teaching be looking for a Ministry of Presence and Preaching series on Ephesians. The person to be part of their community at Dean, the Very Rev. Sean Murphy St. John’s the Baptist. D.D., is a natural with children in Messy Church and teams with the Most Rev. At the most southerly end of the diocese Terry Buckle D.D (Ret) to do the in Fort Nelson, St. Mary Magdalene, Teaching and Preaching series. has just received their new Priest, The Rev. Lesley Wheeler-Dame. Rev. The Rt Rev. Larry Robertson has Lesley comes to us with almost 20 taken over priestly and pastoral duties at years experience (much of it right here The Church of the Northern Apostles in our Diocese) and we look forward to in Whitehorse. He is helped by Associate how the parish will grow as they work Priest, the Ven. Sarah Usher, and the together serving our Lord. parish Lay Ministers. The call is out in Northern Lights Winter 2016 page 5 Teslin: Sprucing up St. Philips St. Philips, Teslin got a face lift this summer with a new coat of paint and new eaves troughing. Many people from the community have commented on how nice it is to drive by and see it newly painted. The cross on the bell tower was also fixed which makes the church looked cared for again. With small congregations it is sometimes hard to make sure our properties are well kept but it is wonderful to hear from the community that they noticed the changes. We get a number of tourists throughout the year popping in to see the church and we also get a number of community members coming who just wish to come in and pray. We are blessed that we can leave the doors unlocked.

Ven. Sarah Usher Executive Archdeacon Diocese of Yukon Priest-in-Charge, St. Philip’s, Teslin

Top to Bottom - continued Thanksgiving Display at Northern Apostles We give thanks to the retired clergy who continue to minister in our Diocese often unseen. In Watson Lake the Rev. David Kalles provides sacramental ministry to the parish, while in Whitehorse, The Rev. Mary Battaja works with the First Nations and corrections while the Rev. Martin Carroll acts as Chaplin to the Whitehorse Correctional Center. winter Edition Deadline: march 15, 2016 page 6 Northern Lights Winter 2016 Dawson City PWRDF Efforts by Valerie Maier refurbish the Church kitchen and other repairs to the main building. There are strange things done in the This summer once again, Betty and midnight sun her band of “gold seekers” mined these By the men who moil for... bottles, sorted them and then returned recyclables??? them with a passion. Betty found that businesses in this busy tourist town Robert Service’s poem could have were glad to pass on the chore of been written for the parishioners of St. recycling to the Church, knowing the Paul’s Church in Dawson City, with funds go to worthwhile causes. Twice a a few twists that benefit the Primate’s week, businesses like Sourdough Joe’s World Relief and Development Fund and produced 12-16 dozen empties, while the their Church family. Goldrush Campground delivered their Recyclable drink bottles, plastic and “paydirt” to Betty’s home. By the end metal beverage cans are collected from of the tourist season this year, St. Paul’s around Dawson. These are cashed-in to fortune seekers raised $2470. create benefits that glitter like the gold The miners are a motley band that the city is famous for. includes parishioners from St Paul’s, Leading the crew of sourdoughs is their priest, Rev Laurie Munro, and Betty Davidson, the Diocese of Yukon’s Vestry members. Bishop Larry representative for the Primate’s World Robinson and PWRDF Board Member, Relief and Development Fund. For Valerie Maier, lent a hand when they the past six years, she and her crew were in Dawson City for a Vacation have collected recyclables from local Bible School. All were touched by the businesses. They sort and count them gold fever of making this world a more and return them to the local recycling just, healthy and peaceful place for all! centre for cash. The funds collected are then sent to benefit the Primate’s Fund For more information you can check project in Pikangikum, and to help out http://pwrdf.org/2016/a-motley- band-of-gold-seekers/

Colleen Smith, Evelyn McDonald, Vicki Roberts, Betty Davidson, Shirley Pennell, Rev. Laurie Munro (Diane Baumgartner and Kathy Webster were absent) Northern Lights Winter 2016 page 7 St Paul’s Christmas Pageant Preparation by Betty Davidson

Our photoshoot for the nativity powerpoint this year used a mining backdrop. On Sunday, October 2 on a clear, but chilly afternoon, 24 young people, 7 leaders gathered first at Claim 33, where we were met by Sylvie Burkhard, then at Discovery Claim on Bonanza Creek and finally at the Dredge, to re-enact the Christmas story, complete with bulldozers, stuffy sheep and mining claims. Six hours later, we had some marvellous pictures, thanks to photgraphers, Andrea Magee, and Dan Davidson, and 33 very tired but happy people.

Cave Quest at St. Paul’s by Betty Davidson

Twenty-four young people, five Jr Leaders and five adult leaders came together at St. Paul’s Anglican church in Dawson City from August 8-12, to explore, eat, sing, dance, create, exercise, and learn more about God’s love at our Vacation Bible School, Cave Quest. It was amazing fun, and we all had a tremendous time building ideas for God in a created cave, walking on water, learning Bible stories, asking questions, learning to pray and getting to know each other in a new way. page 8 Northern Lights Winter 2016 Northern Apostles: Cutting Up for Hallowe’en by Sarah Usher

The young and not so young had a good time at the Church of the Northern Apostles carving pumpkins after service. The children’s focus was about Why being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. It was demonstrated to us that God takes our tops off and scoops all the icky stuff out of us making us clean. Then He gives us a nice smiling face and puts His light inside of us so that we can shine with goodness and love. This is a good analogy and the children loved the opportunity to have some fun with their parents afterwards.

Mayo Remembers on November 11 Close to half of Mayo’s 400 residents, including many school children, turned out on November 11 to remember the contributions of armed forces personnel and to pray for a more peaceful world. The photograph shows some of those involved in the ceremony. Left to right: RCMP Constable Matt Beckett, Lay Minister Charles Maier, M.L.A. Elect Ranger Don Hutton, Ranger Sergeant Ralph Mease, Legion Member Norma Mease, RCMP Constable Matt Trarer Northern Lights Winter 2016 page 9 Christ Church: a Baptism

Fellowship time after baptism of Leonardo Christian Pierre Vaneltsi on November 6 at Christ Church Cathedral. Pictured are The Rev. Martin Carroll (who did the baptism, seen above) wife Ruth and Leonardo and family.

Atlin: Thrift Store Improvements

New Steps at Thrift Store St. Martin’s interior page 10 Northern Lights Winter 2016 Executive Committee Gathering

Members of the Executive Committee enjoying some music and worship at our October meeting. It is always good to get together. Thrift Shop Developments in Watson Lake There are happy smiles on the faces of many Watson Lakers as we follow the development of the addition to our ramped and humble Thrift Shop. This building was constructed in 1990 as a project for the local Yukon College Carpenter Helpers Program; now, the same program has come to our aid to attach an additional twenty feet to the length of our shop. The project is going ahead under the supervision of local contractor Rich Harder, and the crew consists of an amiable group of twelve people - six men and six women, ranging in age from high school to early retirement. We have received so much support from our local residents (and our Town Council) that we have decided we must have a rather grand “Open House” in the spring, when we will be ready to show off our brand new expanded area.. Watch this space for more information! Northern Lights Winter 2016 page 11 A Blessed Excursion to Rampart House By Rev. Laurie Munro

Blessed! That was the main word that was jumping into my mind during the boat ride to Rampart House. Sitting on the border between Alaska and Yukon, this had been the site of of a trading post in the late 1800’s and home to a Landing at the cliffside. number of the Gwich’in people. Having been asked long ago to say prayers in the graveyard, I was thankful to be finally able to make the trip. The Vuntut Gwich’in Heritage Department had room to fit me in on the boat carrying supplies to the people who were working on restoring the old church building, so I jumped at the invitation. Put it all together on a beautiful sunny day with St. Luke’s Anglican Church wonderful company and what are you? Blessed! We landed on the beach at the base of the cliff and carried a few of the supplies up to the camp. We were greeted with a lovely lunch, and even better conversation, before heading off through the trees down the short path to the graveyard. The specific grave that I had been asked to visit had been identified, so I knelt and prayed, surrounded by the House under repair people who accompanied me. Black flies flew and mosquitos chewed but the most unusual thing was having an armed guard while I prayed. What else would one expect when bears had been spotted in the area? I listened to stories about the various people buried nearby, and their families, and thought building that is now being restored. about the amazing lives they had led. Baptisms, confirmations, weddings, Once again, blessed! funerals and untold times of worship We moved from the graveyard were held in that place. Standing in the back through the camp to visit the old doorway, looking down the river, it was buildings that had already been restored. impossible not to feel the strength of We prayed in each one, conscious of the God’s presence in that place. passing of time since Dan Cadzow had Mähsi cho (Thank you VERY much) built his house, of all of the people who to Martha Benjamin for asking me to had come to trade in his store, of the make this trip and to Megan Williams people who had lived in the community. and the rest of the V.G. Government’s We crossed a small ravine to the site Heritage Department who made it of St. Luke’s Anglican Church, the old possible. God continue to bless you all! page 12 Northern Lights Winter 2016

Northern Lights magazine is published by the Diocese of Yukon and its goal is to inform people everywhere about the life, work and mission of the Anglican Church in the diocese and to inform the churches of Yukon about each other, thus strength- ening the bonds of mutual appreciation. Opinions expressed herein are those of the writer or contributor and not necessarily those of the Diocese of Yukon.

Subscriptions: $10 or greater donation per year (3 issues per year) If you would prefer an electronic edition please contact the Diocese Editor: Dan Davidson Email: [email protected]

Articles, photos and any inquiries including subscriptions, changes of address, dona- tions and correspondence regarding the work of the diocese should be directed to: Diocese of Yukon, PO Box 31136, Whitehorse, YT. Y1A 5P7 (867) 667-7746 Fax (867) 667-6125 Email: [email protected] Web site: http://anglican.yukon.net Check the “Diocese of Yukon” page on Facebook (if you LIKE the page you will receive updates of the page on your news feed) Printed by: Arctic Star Printing Whitehorse, Yukon